Month: June 2015

Our June 2015 meeting covered microscopic soil analysis of indigenous micro organisms, IMO. We discovered and identified bacteria, fungus and nematodes. I brought in my 400x microscope to easily evaluate soil fertility based on biology. We recorded this lesson on how to use a microscope to validate your natural farming.

We are essentially looking for beneficial fungus. Aerobic, oxygen loving, soil building life forms, beneficial fungus, can be identified by looking for ‘tubes’ greater than 3.5 micrometers wide and darker in color. There should be one beneficial fungus per view when soil is around 600:600 bacteria:fungus ratio, ideal for most crops.

Identifying this beneficial fungus is a key indicator of natural farming success. The idea is to get these organisms to dwell deep within our soil. Bringing life and oxygen deep into the Earth and allowing plants lots of room to grow roots. Beneficial fungus harbor beneficial bacteria and healthy levels of nematodes. Good thing they are easy to see and increase with natural farming solutions!

This is an introduction to the SCIENCE behind the popular agriculture technique called Natural Farming, which utilizes indigenous microorganisms and plant and animal based agricultural by-products to produce unique amendments. These techniques use the natural biological pathways found in forested systems and replicates them in the agricultural field and in livestock pens. James doesn’t put labels on these techniques and is an academic who isn’t concerned with profiting off of these systems and the education behind the practices, so he provides an unbiased, science based analysis of these techniques.